Losing Weight in College

fitandfunchar

Disclaimer: my logs are empty, so you can check them if you want but they don't give a very accurate portrayal of anything. In fact I usually log the bad things I eat and not good..also my HRM does not work and I don't know how well it worked when it did, so I don't log how much I burn accurately either.

1. I don't know my activity level. I walk to classes with my heavy backpack, I stand at work on the weekends for about 15 hours, I run/do Daily Burn videos occasionally throughout the week, but I just don't have a picture of my overall activity. I don't want to put that I'm sedentary because I'm really not, but I'm not lightly active every week or by certain calculator's definitions.

2. I mostly eat at my college's dining hall because it's free, and between my crappy mini-fridge and the community kitchen where you check out utensils, it's easiest. Unfortunately, it's very hard to be even 90% accurate while there. The online menu doesn't always match the real menu (making something a wrap/sandwich instead of an entree, completely omitting something, etc), the calories seem questionable to me (a sandwich with a piece of fried chicken and some lettuce on it is 760 calories and the size of my cell phone ), the servings are definitely questionable (everything is in cups, sometimes a sandwich portion is listed as 1 sandwich but the portions actually laid out in the hall are half sandwiches), and of course there are things I can't account for, like how many calories are in each part o f my salad or this cookie or how much butter is on this bread.

3. I have made a point to eat healthier now than before, and not focus so much on eating less. I started with a low carb diet which helped a lot -- I felt more energy, I didn't feel like I was going to explode after a meal -- but I didn't realize fruits and such were still carbs, so I probably wasn't doing that great. I tried to gently reincorporate carbs but they really are addictive and I'm back to eating potatoes and fries in the same meal but I'm at least eating smaller portions of that.

4. I am making progress in my weight loss, but I tend to sabotage myself when I start looking better and/or obsess. I check the scale every few days and I try to go at the same time but sometimes I don't. As far as I can see, I've gone from a high of 211 to 206.9 as of last night at 8ish. I honestly think about weighing myself every time I eat or look/feel bloated. I know it's bad, but if I go to long without checking the scale I blimp out again, and looking in the mirror doesn't work for me at all. I thought I looked fine for months and then when my clothes fit less comfortably I finally weighed myself and saw the 20 lb difference. The little things people are supposed to use to check their health -- breath, energy, measurements -- are things I end up using to lie to myself.


TL;DR I'm doing better than I ever have before, but there are a lot of things that could hold me back. I'm basically freefalling weight loss.

Fraulein86

as a fellow college student in her weight loss journey, perhaps I could help a bit! background: SW:191 pounds, CW: 146 pounds, GW: 135 pounds. so I've had successful weight loss so far.

1- perhaps you could invest in an activity tracker! (some phones nowadays have step counters built in (iPhone 5-6)
i aim for 15,000 steps per day but an active person will take 10,000 steps per day. Just aim for consistency!

2- no matter how inaccurate the calorie count, log EVERY BITE!!! try to estimate as a last resort. if you don't track your food, it may not show up in your tracker but it will find a way to show in your jeans, if you catch my drift.

3- starting out, you shouldn't bother with macronutrients. it won't make a large impact on your weight. what will? Calorie deficit. you have to eat fewer calories than you use, and though carbs can sometimes increase your appetite and cause you to overeat, the overeating makes you larger. not carbs. carbs are not to be avoided, they should make up about half of your calories every day unless a doctor tells you otherwise. want to go low-carb anyways? see a doctor!
they could guide you better than the Internet.

4- weight yourself in the morning right after you use the bathroom and before you eat/drink anything (while naked.) it will give the most accurate weight. at night, food has accumulated in your body and will cause a variable number on the scale.

final notes- YOU ARE DOING SO WELL! I wish you luck on your journey, and congratulations on your achievements so far!

megomerrett

I like what Fraulein86 has said. I'm 32 now but I did weight watchers when I was in uni. At that point I was house sharing but in first year I was in halls and I totally get what you're saying. It was so easy to go up for seconds, the portions were massive and on Saturdays lunch would be something like a pastie, baked beans and chips (I'm British so by chips I mean thick cut stodgy 'fries'). I don't weigh everything every time but it does help to know what a 75g serving of pasta actually looks like. When you're home in the holidays maybe have a play at measuring stuff so you know what it should look like. Think of portion sizes in terms of fists! A fist size serving of mash, a fist size of meat and a fist size of veg - that sort of thing.

Is it possible to have a quiet chat with one of the cooks? Just to give them the heads up that you want to be more careful with how much you're eating, they could be able to help you out with serving sizes etc.

Do you booze much? When I started weight watchers in uni I realised I was consuming a day's worth of calories most nights with beer! I didn't stop boozing but switched to gin and slimline tonic or vodka and diet coke... Still not super healthy and I'd not do it now but it made a difference!

I worked in a pub where we had a panini maker so I'd have one most shifts. Oh my days there are such a lot of calories in that much bread and cheese!!! And the first time I weighed a pasta portion out I was disbelieving... But no it was right I had just been eating mountains of pasta.

The biggest difference for me was increasing my exercise. I used to walk at least an hour every day as I couldn't afford to live closer to uni but I started training for a 5k doing 3 x 30min jogging each week. There were so many hills in that city! It really gave me a focus and gave me the confidence to start using the uni gym. I'd been too scared to join any teams but finally felt that I deserved to be keeping fit too.

Do keep weighing. And do record everything even if you are guessing some stuff. I always fail when I stop recording. It's the same every time. It makes me think twice about portions and snacks.

Good luck!